Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey, good as he is, can't cover New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. At 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds, Gronkowski is too big.

André Goodman, one of the NFL's solid No. 2 corners, is not whom the Broncos want defending the Patriots' Wes Welker, who is the NFL's top slot receiver. The 5-foot-9 Welker is too quick.

Then there's New England tight end Aaron Hernandez. Apparently, no Bronco can cover Hernandez. When the Broncos played New England on Dec. 18 and lost 41-23 in Denver, Hernandez roamed free. He finished with nine receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown. His quarterback, Tom Brady, missed an open Hernandez at least two other times — once in the end zone.

So how do the Broncos stop Brady and the Patriots' three-headed receiver show of Gronkowski, Hernandez and Welker?

By playing keepaway with a running game led by quarterback Tim Tebow and tailback Willis McGahee.

"We'll try it," Tebow said this week. "First of all, we have 100 percent faith in our defense and special teams. As far as us, I think it's important that we control the clock and control the ball and keep it out of Brady's hands as much as possible. I mean, he is a great quarterback and he's been doing his deal for a long time. So it is important for our offense to get first downs. It's a game of 10 yards. That's all we think about: a game of 10 yards."

The Broncos (9-8) meet the Patriots (13-3) again tonight, this time at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. This time, it's in the AFC semifinals. The winner will be two victories from an NFL championship.

Tebow and McGahee not only powered the league's No. 1 running game this season, the Broncos set a franchise record by rushing for 2,632 yards. Considering the Broncos had such tailbacks as Floyd Little in the 1960s, Terrell Davis in the 1990s and Clinton Portis in the 2000s, this is a franchise where a rushing record is no small feat.

Denver Broncos running back Willis McGahee during the second quarter of play against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the AFC playoffs on Sunday at Sports Authority Field. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post)

Better yet, since Tebow was promoted to starting quarterback for the final 11 games of the regular season, the Broncos had the NFL's most prolific rushing offense in 23 years, averaging 193 yards per game on the ground.

It's no mystery why the Broncos, who were ranked only 25th in the 32-team league in rushing through five games this season, suddenly became the league's best ground game.

"It is Tebow," said Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe, an NFL analyst for CBS and a former Broncos tight end. "They didn't run the ball like this when Kyle Orton was their quarterback. When you have a car that won't crank, and you check the alternator and the belts and the spark plugs and the carburetor and the car still won't start? And then you replace the battery and the car starts? You know it's the battery. The Broncos changed only one piece in their running game. Tebow was their missing piece."

It's not so much Tebow as it is Tebow and the threat of Tebow. As Tebow stands in the shotgun side by side with McGahee or backup tailback Lance Ball, they deliver an automatic freeze on the linebackers.

"We have what most teams don't have in the running game, and that's a second dimension," Broncos coach John Fox said. "The quarterback's a big part of that. If you defend this dimension over here, that means you're leaving the other dimension that's over there."

The last time Denver and New England met, the Broncos' offense damaged their defense by losing three fumbles in the second quarter that resulted in 13 points for the Patriots.

The Denver Post's NFL reporters post analysis, notes and more on this blog dedicated to the Denver Broncos.

Denver's defense is going to need more help from its offense tonight to have a chance. More than any team the Denver defense has played this season, the Patriots present a matchup problem. For proof, there was the Patriots' 18-point victory over the Broncos last month at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

The matchup problem here is that the strength of Denver's defense doesn't line up with the strength of the Patriots' offense.

The Broncos' best pass-coverage players, Bailey and Goodman, can shut down an offense geared around wide receivers, as they did last weekend against Pittsburgh's Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown.

Photos: Looking Back

But the Patriots' passing game runs its routes between the hash marks — where Gronkowski, Hernandez and Welker have been known to embarrass linebackers, safeties and nickel backs. The Broncos have a lot of rookies and undrafted players at those positions.

"I think we've got to have a better plan of who our matchups are, where those matchups are and how we're going to defend them," Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said. "And I think we've got a pretty good plan for how we're going to defend those guys."

Yes, but even if Allen devises the most brilliant scheme since New England coach Bill Belichick outwitted Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in a 2004 AFC playoff game, 6-foot doesn't usually stop 6-foot-6. Straight-ahead speed doesn't cover a quick cut off a yardage stripe all that well.

The Broncos' best defense against the no-huddle, fast-tempo, down-the-seam passing game? It may be a four-corners offense.

"Against a football team like this and against a quarterback like Tom Brady, you have to make sure you make the most of every possession as an offense," Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy said. "You have to sustain drives. You like to have those eight-, 10-play drives and keep them off the field to help our defense. It's going to be a team effort this week, just like it is every week."

Lockheed says object part of 'sensor technology' testing that ended ThursdayWhat the heck is that thing? It's fair to assume that question was on the minds of many people who traveled along Colo. 128 south of Boulder this week if they happened to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a large, silver projectile perched alongside the highway and pointed north toward town.

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